The impact of semen testing for Ebola virus RNA on sexual behavior of male Ebola survivors in Liberia.
Sexual transmission of Ebola virus (EBOV) is well established and has been implicated in multiple resurgences during the West African Ebola epidemic. Given the persistence of viral RNA in semen, guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend abstinence or condom use for at least 1 yea...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:01643db0d2d247b7bad6e23972288cbb 2023-09-05T13:17:43+02:00 The impact of semen testing for Ebola virus RNA on sexual behavior of male Ebola survivors in Liberia. Kathleen Tompkins Jerry Brown Sam Tozay Edwina Reeves Korto Pewu Harrietta Johnson Gerald Williams Tonia Conneh Joseph Diggs Jean DeMarco Katherine King Darrius McMillian Carson Merenbloom William Fischer David Alain Wohl 2020-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008556 https://doaj.org/article/01643db0d2d247b7bad6e23972288cbb EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008556 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0008556 https://doaj.org/article/01643db0d2d247b7bad6e23972288cbb PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 14, Iss 9, p e0008556 (2020) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008556 2023-08-13T00:40:25Z Sexual transmission of Ebola virus (EBOV) is well established and has been implicated in multiple resurgences during the West African Ebola epidemic. Given the persistence of viral RNA in semen, guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend abstinence or condom use for at least 1 year or until two semen PCR tests are negative. To better understand the impact of semen testing on sexual behavior, male EVD survivors were surveyed regarding their sexual behavior before and after semen testing. Of the 171 men who enrolled, 148 reported being sexually active following discharge from an ETU with 59% reporting episodes of condomless sex. At least one semen sample for testing was provided by 149 men and 13 of these men had EBOV RNA detected in their semen. When comparing sexual behaviors before and after semen testing, a positive semen test result had limited impact on behavior. Of those with seminal EBOV RNA detected, 61% reported no change in behavior pre- and post-semen testing with 46% engaging in condomless sex before and after testing and only 1 adopted safer sex behaviors following receipt of a positive result. Similarly, among men with undetectable EBOV in their semen, 66% reported no change in sexual behaviors with semen testing, with 55% forgoing condoms during sex. In only 11% was a negative semen result followed by abandoning condoms. There were no known sexual transmission events of Ebola virus in this cohort despite viral presence in semen during periods of condomless sex. This highlights the need to better understand the infectious potential of viral RNA persistence and determine what constitutes effective counseling for survivors and their partners. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 14 9 e0008556 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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English |
topic |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
spellingShingle |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Kathleen Tompkins Jerry Brown Sam Tozay Edwina Reeves Korto Pewu Harrietta Johnson Gerald Williams Tonia Conneh Joseph Diggs Jean DeMarco Katherine King Darrius McMillian Carson Merenbloom William Fischer David Alain Wohl The impact of semen testing for Ebola virus RNA on sexual behavior of male Ebola survivors in Liberia. |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
Sexual transmission of Ebola virus (EBOV) is well established and has been implicated in multiple resurgences during the West African Ebola epidemic. Given the persistence of viral RNA in semen, guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend abstinence or condom use for at least 1 year or until two semen PCR tests are negative. To better understand the impact of semen testing on sexual behavior, male EVD survivors were surveyed regarding their sexual behavior before and after semen testing. Of the 171 men who enrolled, 148 reported being sexually active following discharge from an ETU with 59% reporting episodes of condomless sex. At least one semen sample for testing was provided by 149 men and 13 of these men had EBOV RNA detected in their semen. When comparing sexual behaviors before and after semen testing, a positive semen test result had limited impact on behavior. Of those with seminal EBOV RNA detected, 61% reported no change in behavior pre- and post-semen testing with 46% engaging in condomless sex before and after testing and only 1 adopted safer sex behaviors following receipt of a positive result. Similarly, among men with undetectable EBOV in their semen, 66% reported no change in sexual behaviors with semen testing, with 55% forgoing condoms during sex. In only 11% was a negative semen result followed by abandoning condoms. There were no known sexual transmission events of Ebola virus in this cohort despite viral presence in semen during periods of condomless sex. This highlights the need to better understand the infectious potential of viral RNA persistence and determine what constitutes effective counseling for survivors and their partners. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kathleen Tompkins Jerry Brown Sam Tozay Edwina Reeves Korto Pewu Harrietta Johnson Gerald Williams Tonia Conneh Joseph Diggs Jean DeMarco Katherine King Darrius McMillian Carson Merenbloom William Fischer David Alain Wohl |
author_facet |
Kathleen Tompkins Jerry Brown Sam Tozay Edwina Reeves Korto Pewu Harrietta Johnson Gerald Williams Tonia Conneh Joseph Diggs Jean DeMarco Katherine King Darrius McMillian Carson Merenbloom William Fischer David Alain Wohl |
author_sort |
Kathleen Tompkins |
title |
The impact of semen testing for Ebola virus RNA on sexual behavior of male Ebola survivors in Liberia. |
title_short |
The impact of semen testing for Ebola virus RNA on sexual behavior of male Ebola survivors in Liberia. |
title_full |
The impact of semen testing for Ebola virus RNA on sexual behavior of male Ebola survivors in Liberia. |
title_fullStr |
The impact of semen testing for Ebola virus RNA on sexual behavior of male Ebola survivors in Liberia. |
title_full_unstemmed |
The impact of semen testing for Ebola virus RNA on sexual behavior of male Ebola survivors in Liberia. |
title_sort |
impact of semen testing for ebola virus rna on sexual behavior of male ebola survivors in liberia. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008556 https://doaj.org/article/01643db0d2d247b7bad6e23972288cbb |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 14, Iss 9, p e0008556 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008556 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0008556 https://doaj.org/article/01643db0d2d247b7bad6e23972288cbb |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008556 |
container_title |
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
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14 |
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9 |
container_start_page |
e0008556 |
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